Serotonin, Whole Blood
SERWB

Method(s)

High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Specimen Required

Collect

One 3 mL lavender (EDTA) top tube. Also acceptable: One pink (K2EDTA) top tube. Place on ice. Transfer whole blood into a Serotonin transport tube containing ascorbic acid. Mix well. Specimen must be preserved and frozen within 2 hours of collection.

Transport

3 mL whole blood in a serotonin transport tube, frozen (Min: 1 mL).

Stability

Ambient: Unacceptable; Refrigerated: Unacceptable; Frozen: 1 month.

Unacceptable Conditions

Nonfrozen samples. Separate samples must be submitted when multiple tests are ordered.

Schedule

Sun, Tue-Fri

Billing Code

5010657

CPTCode

84260

Notes

CRITICAL FROZEN: Separate samples must be submitted when multiple tests are ordered. Medications that may affect serotonin concentrations include lithium, MAO inhibitors, methyldopa, morphine, and reserpine. In general, foods that contain serotonin do not interfere significantly. Slight increases may be seen in acute intestinal obstruction, acute MI, cystic fibrosis, dumping syndromes, and nontropical sprue. Metastasizing abdominal carcinoid tumors often show serotonin concentrations greater than 400 ng/mL.